[Steve Myers] This world this week has shown
we need a Savior. Whether it's things happening in France, whether
it's things happening in Turkey, whether it's things happening right here at home. It's been an amazing few weeks that we've
been going through. It seems that you can't hardly go a week without
some tragic event. Another crisis, another terrorist attack and
oftentimes people ask the question, "Why? Why is this happening?" And all too often people don't associate these
things with anything to do with the Bible, or what the Bible has to do with what's happening
in our country today. Well, in fact, the Bible says a lot about
it. God has a lot to say about circumstances that
are swirling around us and, in fact, the prophet Jeremiah reveals much about our lives today
and where we're heading in the future. Oftentimes, people say, “Well, the Bible
is old, it's an old book, it doesn't really have any relevance to my life today. So, why should I bother to read it?” Well, even though Jeremiah lived more than
2500 years ago, it has plenty to say about life today. He warned Judah about its behavior and the
consequences that would come from that behavior. What would happen to Judah if they continued
in the way that they were going? And of course, they didn't heed Jeremiah and
ultimately went into national captivity. And yet Jeremiah's word also says that God
is a God of love, that God is a God of mercy. And he's a God of justice. Jeremiah had a very special calling right
at the very beginning of the book of Jeremiah if you turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 1,
verse 4. God called Jeremiah for a very specific purpose,
and He outlined that commission to him and told Jeremiah it actually started before he
was actually born. So can you imagine having a commission from
God before birth? Well, Jeremiah was one of those that did. In Jeremiah 1:4, Jeremiah writes this: “The
word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’" A couple of interesting things happening here
right at the very beginning of Jeremiah's writings. He says that God knew him. God had a job for him to do. God gave him a commission that "I want you
to fulfill these duties." And He outlined those things, He had him in
his mind before Jeremiah was even born. That's an interesting concept. Even though Jeremiah had free choice, he could
have denied that calling and God would have raised up someone else to take on that duty. But Jeremiah accepted that call, and it wasn't
just a call to prophesy to Judah. Did you notice that in these few lines? It says that "I ordained you a prophet to
the nations." So Jeremiah was not just a prophet to Judah. He used nations as plural. His prophecies were for other nations. Jeremiah's commission was actually multifaceted. So, there were prophecies that went to the
House of Israel, even though Israel was already in captivity. God had sent them away into captivity nearly
a century before Jeremiah appeared on the scene. And so His word was to be more than just words
to go to Judah. If we look down to verse 9, we see a little
bit more of this multifaceted commission. Jeremiah 1:9, God says "Behold, I have put
My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations
and over the kingdoms to root out, to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build
and to plant." So, God begins to show Jeremiah and by extension,
He is showing us that these prophetic statements that Jeremiah would make were not only applicable
to Judah. Oftentimes throughout prophecy, prophetic
statements carry more than one fulfillment. So Bible prophecy oftentimes can be dual,
or sometimes even more, in their very nature. So this initial first fulfillment would happen
to Judah and yet it wasn't just for Judah. Oftentimes these prophecies have a later fulfillment,
oftentimes at the end of the age, before the return of Jesus Christ, there will be a final
ultimate fulfillment for those specific prophecies. And this is very true in the case of Jeremiah. So, what God prophesied for ancient Judah
also applies to America today. Also applies to English-speaking peoples of
Britain, Canada, Australia. Because God has unfinished business with His
people. God will bring about these prophecies to their
ultimate fulfillment. And so, there are many passages throughout
the book of Jeremiah that clearly refer to events at the end of the age. They clearly point to a time just before the
return of Jesus Christ at the end of the age. And so God very specifically says these prophecies
have a modern application. These apply to the descendants of the patriarch
Joseph. In fact, if we just look ahead to chapter
2, verse 7. Does this sound like it could apply to the
United States? Jeremiah 2:7. "I brought you into a bountiful country to
eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered you defiled My land and
made My heritage an abomination." Has that happened to America today? In fact, it's interesting, it points out something
significant. Who owns the land anyway? Do we own it? God owns the land. Same thing it says in Psalm 24 where David
said "The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness." God owns America and He says that it's been
defiled. The land has been defiled, as well as His
heritage. That also has been defiled and so as you begin
to think about that, how has the land been defiled? How has God's heritage become an abomination? Once you begin to think about that, I think
we could probably come up with quite a few ways that the land has been defiled. But this afternoon I'd just like to focus
on two things. Two things that show how God's property, how
America has been defiled. We will focus on the book of Jeremiah, we
will make it easy this afternoon, I won't turn all over the Bible. If you turn to Jeremiah, we are going to stay
in Jeremiah. We will stay there for the remainder of the
sermon. So you don't have to go all over the place,
we will stay right here in Jeremiah and look at the words that God prophesied, not only
to Judah, to Israel but also to America today. So how do we defile the land today? We as Americans, how has the land become defiled? I think one important way that the land has
become defiled is by our immorality. Our immorality has caused God's heritage to
become an abomination. Jeremiah has prophesied so much about this
very fact. If you just turn a page or two to chapter
3, verse 6. Jeremiah 3:6, he focuses in specifically on
immorality. Immorality of a certain type is what he focuses
in on here in chapter 3, verse 6. He says: "The Lord also said to me in the
days of Josiah the King." So we have a little bit of a timeline during
the time of Josiah. He says: "Have you seen what backsliding Israel
has done?" Where was Israel by this time? Well, Israel is already gone. And so He's posing that question: "Do you
recognize what happened to Israel?” Says “She's gone up on every high mountain
and under every green tree and they've played the harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things,
‘Return to Me.’" So, God wanted them back despite their behavior. He wanted them to come to Him, but He says,
she did not return and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. But did she learn the lesson of what happened
to Israel? Well, verse 8: "Then I saw that for all the
causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had her put away and given her
a certificate of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear,
but went and played the harlot also. So, it came to pass through her casual harlotry
that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. And yet for all this, her treacherous sister
Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart but in pretense," says the Lord. So, there was a pretense of religiosity. A pretense that, well, we are godly people
but in reality just the opposite was true. Yes, there was sexual immorality and He says
this kind of sexual immorality was not just about sex but was about idolatry. Serving self, serving anything but the true
God. Does that describe America today? We claim to be godly people and yet, are we? I ran across an interesting survey that was
done by ChristianMingle. You've heard of ChristianMingle, it's a website
that encourages dating between Christian singles. Well, they did a survey in 2014, just a little
over a year ago and asked a couple of interesting questions to their people that visit their
website. Here's the question, think in your own mind,
how the Christians who go to this site, those who claim they're Christians, would answer
this particular question? "What percentage of singles, who identify
themselves as Christian, are willing to have casual sex without being in love?" So those who say they're Christians, they're
single how many would have casual sex without being in love? Okay, think about what that percentage should
be, as opposed to what they answered. So these are people who answered willingly
over themselves, they identified themselves as Christian. What percentage do you think that is? Sixty-one percent. Sixty-one percent who claim they're Christian
would have sex outside of marriage. It's not that big a deal. Now, on the other hand, what percentage say
they're waiting to have sex until they're married? Now, these are self-proclaimed Christian singles. What percentage do you think say they're waiting
for marriage? Eleven percent. Eleven percent. Does that describe what our country is like? Is that any indication of where we are as
a people? To be proclaiming to be Christians and yet
that's our standard? See, that's just a little insight into where
we're at in America. Now if you turn over to Jeremiah chapter 16,
he focuses on this concept of adultery, both in terms of idolatry—putting something before
the true God—and literal sexual immorality. Jeremiah chapter 16, verse 12. Remember, we got done talking about Israel
as an example how it should have been an example and yet Judah ignored it. Jeremiah 16:12, it says "And you have done
worse than your fathers. For behold each one follows the dictates of
his own evil heart so that no one listens to Me. Therefore, I'll cast you out of this land
into a land you do not know, neither you nor your fathers and there you shall serve other
gods, day and night, where I will not show you favor.” Is that any indication of where we are at
as a country? No one listens to God, we follow our own dictates. In fact, it's the American way, isn't it? That we are our own guide. Nobody chooses for me. Nobody tells me what to do. The American way is I follow my own heart. I'll do what I want. I don't want you, or God, or anybody else
telling me what to do. And so, God says the results of that, because
you won't listen to the Creator, because you won't listen to the One who made you, because
you won't listen to the One who knows best, wants the best for you. He says you're going to go to a place that
you'll serve other gods, day and night. You will suffer the consequences of your own
choices. So Jeremiah comes to the conclusion in chapter
23, verse 10, that this land is just full of adulterers. Not only sexual adulterers but just the whole
flavor of the country becomes that. And of course, sometimes we say "Ah, what's
the big deal? It's just sex, so what?" Sometimes our campers will say that, "You
guys, you ministers you talk about that all the time. That's all you're worried about." Well, why is it a big deal? I think because we forget to put it in the
perspective that it needs to be put in. Because when we talk about this, casual sex
like this ChristianMingle survey, it absolutely destroys the picture of what our covenant
with God is all about, that covenant between God and His people. It destroys that symbolic relationship because
marriage is the metaphor that God has chosen to describe the relationship between Christ
and the Church. And sex outside of marriage destroys that
symbolism. It puts it to shame. And so, sexual gratification, sexual sin,
immorality is just one more way that people just gratify themselves and walk in the flesh,
rather than choose to walk in the Spirit. It's what Galatians 5 talks about. It contrasts the works of the flesh versus
the fruit of the Spirit. And so Judah decided of their own dictates,
of their own heart, to choose their own ways, and America is doing exactly the same. And when we refuse God's guidance and we refuse
His boundaries we choose to follow the dictates of our own heart and ultimately, God says
that's not the way to go. Because what that leads to is all the other
problems of our society. It contributes in so many ways sex that is
misused, produces abortion. It produces fatherless children, it contributes
to poverty, it contributes to divorce, it contributes to pornography, and the list goes
on and on. So it is a big deal. It's just one more way that we accept immorality
in our culture today. You think that's true? There was a recent Gallup poll. It was called "The Values and Beliefs Poll." It was done a little bit over a year ago. They asked about 19 different moral topics
and they polled American citizens, whether or not they would judge these different areas
as morally acceptable or morally unacceptable, and so they posed a number of different questions
on these 19 topics. Here's what the question went like. They asked individuals: "Please tell me whether
you personally believe that in general, it's morally acceptable or morally wrong. How about this topic? Is this morally acceptable or morally wrong?" The topics, the 19 topics, they asked about
gay and lesbian relationships. They asked about having a child out of wedlock. They asked about sex between unmarried men
and women, sex between married women and men that are having affairs. They asked about polygamy, they asked about
suicide, they asked about gambling, 19 different topics. You know what they found? Things have changed. And we're not talking about change from the
'40s, or changes from the 1950s. So, imagine this: What percentage of Americans
would say gay and lesbian relationships are acceptable today? What percentage of Americans would say gay
or lesbian relationships are fine? Sixty-three percent of us say it's fine. Now, it's interesting. Gallup also did the same poll back in 2001,
so about 14 years difference between the two polls. What percentage of Americans said it was okay
back in 2001? Forty. So within 14 years we've changed 23 percentage
points. We're not going back to the 1950s—within
14 years we've changed. A vast majority of Americans believe it's
perfectly acceptable. That doesn't mean they participate in it,
but they think it's acceptable. So, things have remarkably changed between
2001 and today. Having a child outside of wedlock, that was
taboo in the '40s and '50s. Back in 2001, 45% of us would say that's morally
acceptable, but today 61% of us say that's fine. And so that's changed by 16 percentage points. Similar results, sex between an unmarried
man and unmarried woman, almost the same percentage-wise. Divorce, 71% of us today say it's perfectly
acceptable. Things have remarkably changed in a very short
time. There's been a 9% increase in those that say
that polygamy is okay, between 2001 and today. Gambling, same kind of results. So over and over and over again, we show as
a society things that used to be unacceptable, today it's not that big of a deal. Gallup itself said this: "Americans today
appear to have a greater comfort with a host of issues or behaviors that at one time, they
were a social enigma. And even among the most taboo behaviors, there's
evidence of changing moral judgments." That's the facts of where we are. That's the kind of society that we live in,
despite the fact that a study that was done by Pew Research that same year 2014, shows
that America is one of the most religious countries in the world. What percentage of Americans do you think
believe in God? Now, we're not parsing over which God, or
what God, or whatever, but what percentage of American adults say they believe in God? Eighty-nine percent of us say we believe in
God, 89%. Now, that's down a little bit from 2007, 92%. And yet we say we believe in God, we say we're
Christian. ChristianMingle says they're Christians and
yet God's standard has gone by the wayside and survey after survey after survey shows
that Christians are no better when it comes to behavior than their secular counterparts. No better, whatsoever. I mean I can't help but think where do we
fall when it comes to these kinds of things? I mean, no wonder God confronted Judah about
their behavior, about their society. About...I mean they were His people, they
were His people and yet notice what He says in Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 9. Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 9, the things that
we find acceptable today are still unacceptable to God. They've always been unacceptable to God and
they will always remain unacceptable. Whether society embraces it or not is not
the question. Do we have God's perspective? Notice what God asks us today. Jeremiah 7:9: "Will you steal? Will you murder? Will you commit adultery? Will you swear falsely? Will you burn incense to Baal? Will you walk after other gods whom you do
not know and then come and stand before Me, in this house which is called by My name and
say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?" You see, the people said, well, murder is
not that bad, or stealing is not a big deal or committing adultery, it's acceptable. Lying, that's certainly not anything to worry
about. You see, if you read this in God's Word, verse
10, says: "You do all of these things and then you stand in My presence, in the house
that's called by My name, and you think you're safe doing all these disgusting things?" God says it's unacceptable. Always was, always will be. "Don't defile My land by these things." A second way that we defile the land today
is through social injustice. Social injustice. It's something I think that eats away at our
society like an infectious aggressive form of cancer. And so whether it's murder, or whether it's
violence, or whether it's racism or greed, all of those things eat at the foundation
of society and becomes a bigger and bigger issue and we have seen it lived out before
our eyes, haven't we? And we know the cities. We know the names. Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown. More recently Baton Rouge, Alton Sterling. Just the other day Minneapolis, Philando Castile. Just last week, five police officers gunned
down by a sniper in Dallas. We see this playing out in our world today,
is this a reflection of the kind of society where injustice leads to bigger problems,
bigger issues, issues that don't heal themselves, issues that just fester and become bigger
problems. If you saw some of the interviews with the
Dallas Police Chief, David Brown, some remarkable things that he said after the tragedy of the
police officers being gunned down in Dallas. He made an interesting observation. He said we're asking cops to do too much in
this country. He said, "You're asking us to do too much. Every societal failure, we put it off on the
cops to solve. Policing was never meant to solve all of those
problems." And he's right. He's right. We can't expect to solve society's problems
by policing because it's a bigger issue than any of those things. It's a bigger issue. The point leads us to the only fact that we
can come to is that we live in a sin-sick society. That's the world we live in. Can the police solve our problems? They can't. Can the politicians solve our problems? Do we kid ourselves with those things? Can a coalition solve our problems? Can an association solve these issues? Now, God tells us very plainly, doesn't work
that way. Look at chapter 5, verse 28 in Jeremiah. God focuses in very specifically on the fact
that man doesn't know how to solve his own problems. Jeremiah chapter 5. Notice what he says in verse 28, talking about
our leadership. He says, “They have grown fat, they're sleek. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the cause.” But boy, there's a lot of causes that are
being pled. But he says, wait a second, they're not getting
right to the heart of the real issue. They're pleading all right, but not to the
heart and core of the issue itself. He says, “They do not plead the cause, the
cause of the fatherless. Yet, they prosper. And then there's the right of the needy they
do not defend. ‘Shall I not punish them for these things?’
says the Lord. ‘Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation
as this?’" Oh, but we say we're out for the poor or we
say we're for equality. We say we're for fairness. If you were to read this section in The Message,
it says: "My people are infiltrated by wicked men, unscrupulous men” and we could say
women, “on the hunt, pretentious and powerful, and worse: they have no conscience." Goes on to say "Right and wrong mean nothing
to them. They stand for nothing, they stand up for
no one, they throw orphans to the wolves, they exploit the poor. ‘Do you think I'll stand by and do nothing
about this?’ God says. God's decree: ‘Don't you think I'll take
a serious measure against a people like this?’" God knows. God knows man doesn't know how to solve his
own problems. And over and over and over again throughout
Scripture, God gets to the heart and core of the problem. There are hundreds of verses that deal about
social injustice, that deal with the poor, the deal with the orphan and the widow and
how God is concerned deeply about those issues. About racism, about social injustice. Because there is no doubt, racism affects
our society and it is unjust. It affects education. It affects employment. It affects healthcare. It affects criminal justice. And to deny that is to deny the truth, and
we can claim to serve those that are affected by that, but all too often the people that
say they're helping are doing exactly what Jeremiah recorded for. They're growing rich in supposedly pleading
the cause and supposedly doing the things that are helping and yet, God says any of
those aspects of social injustice, it's all unacceptable. In fact, He gives us a mandate, I think, that
we are to imitate. It was the mandate that Christ fulfilled. It’s that mandate when Christ first appeared
on the scene and He quotes the prophet Isaiah when He said He was sent to preach the gospel
and of course, if we stop there, we might miss the mandate. He said He was sent to preach the good news
to who? To the poor. To the poor. Poor spiritually, but poor physically as well. He said He was sent to proclaim liberty to
the captives, and we are a sin-captive society today. He was sent to preach recovery to the blind. We are blinded by our own dictates, by our
own hearts. And He said He was sent to proclaim liberty
to those who are oppressed. Any oppression is unacceptable to God, and
ultimately to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And so like that mandate that Christ came
to fulfill, I think we have that same mandate to fulfill as God's people, as Christians. We must stand for equality. We must stand for justice. We must stand for peace. We must stand against racism because any oppression
is unacceptable to God, and that is not republican, that is not democratic. That is godly. That is godly, and we cannot allow ourselves
to be taken in by the rhetoric that's out there. Because these issues are real and it's what's
going on in our country today. I read an amazing story that was in the New
York Times. The title of the article was about race relations,
and it caught my attention because it said, “race relations are at the lowest point
in Obama presidency, poll finds.” That's not the way it should be and yet that's
where we are, and it rehearsed the findings of a New York Times CBS News poll. And this news poll was just conducted last
Friday, Friday to Tuesday. This last Friday to this previous Tuesday
is when they polled people, and amazing stark findings. What the survey found was the fact that more
than 40% of blacks say that police in their communities make them feel more anxious than
safe. That's the country we live in. Is that the way it should be? I don't care what your political sway is,
it shouldn't be that way. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say race relations
are generally bad. It's hard to find people that would disagree
with that. Most Americans feel that race relations are
getting worse. In fact, it's up almost 30 points from a year
ago. And so when we look at these issues, we are
a divided country. And I don't care where you stand when it comes
to “Black Lives Matter,” because they do. They do. Seventy percent of African-Americans are sympathetic
to that movement. And it's because of all these other things
that we just talked about. Can we really step back and say, “I don't
understand that”? I think as God's people we've got to look
at that and say, “No wonder.” No wonder, because we live in an unjust society. This isn't God's world, is it? These problems can't be fixed, not by man's
doing. Sometimes we think a new president will solve
our problems. Right? We're in a political cycle. But what's going to happen in Cleveland in
a week or so? Who knows, who knows? Well, can a new president solve our problems? You know, what side of the aisle are you on? The Wall Street Journal had an article just
this last week. It was written by James Toronto. And it was about this possible indictment
for Hillary Clinton. And so he wrote an article about it. A couple of interesting things, just to show
the society we live in. He detailed findings that prove most of Mrs.
Clinton's public statements about her private e-mail server were lies. It's a fact. I don't care what side of the aisle you're
on. But what did the FBI Director James Comey
say? Here's what he said about this fact. He said, "To be clear, this is not to suggest
that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often
subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we're deciding now." The article concluded, by Mr. Toronto, saying,
“In other words, laws are for little people." Jeremiah's words to the T? I'm not trying to put down the Democrats because
in another article from the Washington Post, just a little bit ago, this was written at
the end of May. The article was by Dana Milbank, "Donald Trump,"
it was titled "The Welfare King." It said, "Several tax experts I spoke with
said it's entirely possible that Trump has not continued to report or has not paid taxes
since the '70s." How could a billionaire not pay taxes, right? Well, did God get it right? The article says, “They say it's likely
that whatever taxes he does pay, if any,” the article says, “would be at a rate lower
than the average worker pays.” The conclusion of the article: Only little
people pay taxes. So, it doesn't matter what side of the aisle
you're on, I think it shows we better not be on either side. I think it points out very clearly we don't
have a political problem. We don't have a social problem. If you want to really get to the heart of
the matter: We have a spiritual problem. That's the heart of the matter. We have a spiritual problem, and God is very
specific on what we need to do about it. If you look at Jeremiah chapter 22, verse
3. He points out clearly, oh yeah, there are
political problems, there are social problems, there is social injustice, there is immorality,
but the root is spiritual. Jeremiah 22:3, God gets to the heart of the
problem. Chapter 22, verse 3, he says, "Thus says the
Lord, ‘Execute judgment and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand
of the oppressor. Do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger,
the fatherless, the widow nor shed innocent blood in this place. If you indeed do this thing, then shall enter
the gates of this house riding on horses and in chariots, accompanied by servants and people,
kings who sit on the throne of David.’" You do these things, it will be awesome. What a wonderful blessing if you would actually
do these things. And so, next week in Cleveland, later on at
the Democratic convention, I'm sure we'll hear this as their number one platform. “This is what we're going to do.” You know that's not going to happen. That’s not going to happen So, verse 5,
is this what fits? "’But if you will not hear these words,
I swear by Myself,’ says the Lord, ‘that this house shall become a desolation.’" That's the prophecy. In fact, if you go down a little bit farther,
down on to verse 11, he continues this prophecy: "Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judas,”
we’re after Josiah now, verse 15, “says, ‘Shall you reign because you enclose yourself
in the White House?" Oh, it doesn't say White House... "In the walls of the Senate? Shall you reign because you enclose yourself
in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice
and righteousness?" Josiah was a good king, one of the very, very
best. He says, “’Then it was well with him. He judged the cause. He judged the cause of the poor, of the needy. Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?’ says the Lord.” Yet, verse 17, "Your eyes and your heart are
for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression
and violence." And so we read these words, and God is asking,
"America, what is your response?" And I suppose in a way, as God's Church, what
is our response? What is our response to the prophecies of
God? In fact, look at Jeremiah chapter 7. Go back to chapter 7 again, verse 28. Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 28. He lays it on the line, makes it totally clear. Jeremiah 7:28: "So you shall say to them,
‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God, nor receive correction.’" And that's a sad part. We disobey but we're going to keep disobeying
anyway, so they won't receive correction. It says, “The truth has perished and has
been cut off from their mouth.” And it's not just lying. When it talks about the truth, it's talking
about spiritual truth. "Thy Word is truth." John 17:17. The Word of God is truth. It's cut off from America today. It was cut off from Judah then, it was cut
off from us today, and America has determined to continue to turn away from the truth of
the Bible, from the truth of God's Word. And so, as a result, we turn a couple of pages
to Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 14. Jeremiah chapter 10, verse 14. Does this describe the spiritual state of
our country today? Jeremiah 10:14, God says, “Everyone is dull-hearted,
without knowledge.” And it goes on to describe other things. Everyone is dull-hearted, without not just
knowing things, not without knowing how to do, that's not what it's talking about. Without biblical understanding, without spiritual
knowledge, our country is dull-hearted, and it's not just talking about the general population. He's getting to the heart and core about our
leadership as well—our leadership is dull-hearted. Look down to verse 21. Says, “For the shepherds have become dull-hearted.” Our nation's leaders are dull-hearted. They don't want the truth of God, they don't
want spiritual guidance. And the religious shepherds are dull-hearted. It's pointing right to our religious leaders. We're supposed to be a religious country,
according to polls. And yet our religious leadership—it doesn't
matter if they are white, black, Hispanic, whatever—God's judgment is that they're
all dull-hearted. They've all turned from the truth. They won't accept the truth. They won't accept the handwriting on the wall,
and so as we look at what God says, He makes it abundantly clear. And in fact, if we are shocked by the things
that have been happening around us, Jeremiah was as well. We look back at chapter 5 once again. Jeremiah chapter 5, verse 30. It's nothing to take lightly, our political
leadership, our religious leadership in our country today. God says very clearly don't take this lightly. Verse 30 of chapter 5, He says, “An astonishing
and horrible thing has been committed in the land.” An astonishing and horrible thing has been
committed in the land. He says, “The prophets have prophesied falsely
and the priests rule by their own power.” And then He says, “My people love to have
it so.” But what will you do in the end? You see, God brings it back home. Because we can condemn society, we can condemn
all the things that have been going on in this world, but it still comes back to us. What will we do? What will we do, despite the fact that our
world around us relishes in things that are anti-God? What will we do? What kind of lives are we living? How is society affecting us? When we look to chapter 9, verse 3, God challenges
the people, challenges us about these astonishing things that are going on in our world today
and the way that our world thinks around us. Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 3. It says "And like their bow, they've bent
their tongues for lies." Yeah, look at that Gallup poll. Lying is not that big a deal. It's acceptable, morally. So, have we bent our tongues like a bow for
lying? Especially when it comes to spiritual truth,
it says, “’They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. They proceed from evil to evil, and they don't
know me,’ says the Lord.” And so in a way it seems like we've become
addicted to falsehood. Even though we know it's false, we seem to
accept it. So, do we prefer deception over truth? Because most of the world doesn't like a straightforward,
matter of fact, right out of the Bible truth. They don't like it, and yet people look at
what's going on in the world and oftentimes they are confused by it. They don't know why these things are happening. And so often it comes back. They don't understand the basic biblical principle
of cause and effect. Christ uses the example of sowing and reaping:
what you sow, you will reap. And so when we sow unbiblical, ungodly behavior,
what can the only consequence be? Now, of course, we can lament all the problems
and all the difficulties, and they become very evident, and in Jeremiah prophesies over
and over and over again, and you can kind of see why sometimes the people got tired
of hearing it. But they needed it because they didn't do
anything about it. But the important aspect of all of these prophecies
was not just the fact that this is the way that it is, but Jeremiah was also implored
by God to tell the people the solution. Jeremiah just didn't preach doom and destruction. He preached about the fact that there is a
solution. In fact, for America today, there is a national
solution to our problems, and God reminded Judah and He reminds us today that there is
a solution. Look over at Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 3. Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 3. God wants us to have a solution. He wants us to come out of this mire that
we're stuck in. And so, Jeremiah prophesied about that, spoke
God's words. Jeremiah 7:3: "Thus says the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell
in this place.’" He says there is an answer. There is a solution to our problems. So, if you'll get up at your national convention
and say, "America, change! Let's live God's way. We've tried everything else and it doesn't
work!" That's what God says, verse 5. "If you thoroughly amend your ways and your
doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between man and his name. If you thoroughly love your neighbor as yourself,”
you wouldn't need your coalitions. You wouldn't need your political parties. You wouldn’t need your platforms. “If you execute judgment between one another." He goes on, "If you do not oppress the stranger,
you do not oppress the fatherless, you do not oppress the widow, you do not shed innocent
blood,” you don't murder. “You do no deadly violence.” He says you don't do that, and “if you don't
walk after other gods.” No idolatry, put God first. “You do those things, I’ll cause you to
dwell in this place, ultimately forever and ever." There is the solution. God didn't just preach doom and destruction
without showing the solution to our problems. And He lays it straight out. It's not political. It's not social. It's spiritual. And we have to have a changed heart, a changed
mind. So, in Jeremiah 25, He built on that same
thought. Jeremiah 25, verse 4. He says similar things, uses a little bit
different wording. But nonetheless, He tells us the solution. Jeremiah chapter 25. Notice the way God inspired Jeremiah to prophesy
in Jeremiah 25:4. He says, "And the Lord sent you, all his servants,
the prophets, rising early and sending them." So, Jeremiah wasn't the only one. He says all the servants, all the prophets. In fact, He told Jeremiah "I have set you
as a watchman." And God's Church today is a watchman, proclaiming
the truth of God, proclaiming the true way, proclaiming the solutions to our problems. And so, God sent prophet after prophet to
His people and He continues to do that today. And so, did the people listen? Well, we know Israel didn't listen. Judah didn't listen. But God sent them nonetheless, and God says
in verse 4 of chapter 25 at the end, He says, "But you have not listened nor inclined your
ear to hear." You can imagine, if you're trying to hear
something, especially those of us who may be a little hard of hearing, you know, you
turn your head, you try to hear. What's the implication there? I can't hear, and you know, I don't really
want to. You turn away. They have inclined their ear, not to hear;
just the opposite is happening. But nonetheless, even though we as a people
don't want to hear, God wants all as a part of His Kingdom. Verse 5, here's what they said. "Repent now every one of his evil way and
his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers
forever and ever.” Ultimately, the Kingdom of God. It says, “Don't go after other gods to serve
them or worship them. Don't provoke Me to anger with the works of
your hands and I won't harm you." Verse 7, "’Yet, you have not listened to
Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to
your own hurt.’" And so, God's judgment is on our arrogant
national leadership. He says His judgment is upon irresponsible
religious shepherds. And He says His judgment is upon an increasingly
immoral society, and He says to all of us, “Repent.” Repent. And that message isn't just for America. It's not just for Britain or Canada or Australia. We have to be careful ourselves. Because any part of those attitudes and approaches
are unacceptable to God. And you may have put Jeremiah 17:9 into your
mind as a memory verse. We could turn over there just to remind ourselves. Because certainly, we don't want to say "Oh,
look how bad they are, look how awful it is out there. Boy I'm sure glad I'm not in the world." You see, we've got to be careful about that. And God inspired Jeremiah to remind us all
not to think that way. So, in Jeremiah 17:9. Remember this verse? "The heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. Who can know it?" We certainly have to have a realistic view
of ourselves, don't we? We have to look at ourselves honestly because
God's telling us through Jeremiah, our perception can be corrupt. Our view of ourselves can be deceptive, and
maybe one of the most deceptive things is telling ourselves we're not too bad. Pretty good people. We are pretty good, aren't we? And so we fool ourselves into saying: "I'm
a better person than I really am." You see, God says to be careful about that
because that can be an illusion, it can be an illusion that we can fall into: not recognizing
the issues, not recognizing the compassion that we need to have for the poor, the compassion
that we need to have for those that are marginalized. That we have true justice in our own lives
because as the people of God we must root out any immorality in our own life. It can't exist. God says it's unacceptable. God wants us to recommit our lives to him
and amend our own ways, our own doings, and so He very clearly says, in our own lives,
no violence, no anger. Not even in our thoughts can there be any
bias or bigotry or prejudice. It is unacceptable. We have to strive to continue to live up to
the mandate of Jesus Christ. To live up to His standard and fully commit
every area of our life to Him and look to Him, and ultimately the solution, the ultimate
solution as Christ comes back and establishes the Kingdom of God. But we have to be living by that standard
today, right now, in every way. And Jeremiah is remarkable in that regard
because not only does he preach about the consequences of ultimate disobedience to God,
he also preaches a powerful positive message as well. If you look to Jeremiah chapter 17, verse
7, if you're still there, and verse 9 just got done telling us how deceitful our heart
can be, how deceitful our thinking can be. Oftentimes we overlook verse 7, right before
this, because it tells us a very positive message. It says, “Blessed is the man who trusts
in the Lord.” Sounds a lot like that song that we always
sang, from Psalm 1, remember it? Remember the words that we sing? "Blessed and happy is the man who does never
go astray." Right? Why not? Because we strive to follow God and His standard. And so, Jeremiah mirrors that song by saying
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord." And so, Jeremiah focuses on that hope, and
the hope is that we live by that standard, we strive to obey God, we trust Him. We don't look to our own inclination, we look
to God's leadership in our life, we look to His direction in our life. And God will direct and He will guide, and
we're to be that shining example in this world of darkness, that God's way does work and
God's way does lead to happiness. And we may not have it on a country-, nationwide-type
basis right now, but you know we can have it in the Church. We can have it in our individual lives. We can stand for honesty and justice and equality
within the Church. We must! We must! And when we do that and as we do that, God
says you can't help but be blessed. You can't help but to be happy because you're
putting God's way into practice. Because we have set our hope on Him. And that helps us to look forward to the time
that that hope will be evident to everyone, when Christ will establish God's government
of justice and morality on this earth. So, let's never forget that. Let's never forget that. And let's strive that much more to put God's
way into practice in our individual lives, and ultimately we heed the words that God
gave to Jeremiah.
